Steven Kazmierczak

Steven Phillip Kazmierczak (August 26, 1980 – February 14, 2008) was an American mass murderer who perpetrated the 2008 Northern Illinois University shooting in DeKalb, Illinois, on February 14, 2008.

Kazmierczak exhibited mental health problems his whole life and underwent multiple instances of treatment. However, a psychologist who investigated his profile, said that Kazmierczak knew to disguise his public persona, deliberately concealing and withholding information about his impulses and thoughts, as well as his mental health history. A mental health group coordinator stated that Kazmierczak's main problem was never wanting to identify with being mentally ill.

Kazmierczak was born on the night of August 26, 1980, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, the second child of Robert and Gail Kazmierczak.^[1] He had an older sister and the family resided in nearby Elk Grove Village.^[2] He went to elementary and high school in that city, attending Salt Creek Elementary and Elk Grove High School, from which he graduated in 1998.^[1]

While attending Elk Grove High, Kazmierczak met Joe Russo, who would remain his closest friend, staying in touch until Kazmierczak's death.^[3] Kazmierczak's family ties were limited and negative, developing a sibling rivalry with his sister Susan, which ended in a lifelong enmity.^[1] When she was interviewed after the shooting at NIU, Susan told police that she was surprised that "(Steven) hadn't come to kill me."^[4] The last contact between Susan and Steven was on October 26, 2007, when he sent her a strongly worded email calling her "rude" and "disrespectful."^[1] Testifying for investigators, Susan recounted Steven's behavior as an adolescent which, according to her, included verbal violence and insults towards their mother, whom Kazmierczak blamed for his involuntary hospitalizations.^[5]

Kazmierczak's father, Robert, an employee of the United States Postal Service, was described as a present father but largely uninvolved regarding Steven and his behaviors.^[5]

Kazmierczak had minor encounters with the Elk Grove Village Police Department. On February 6, 1994, Steven and Joe Russo, aged 13 and 14, respectively, were arrested for placing an improvised Drano explosive on a neighbor's porch.^[5] Because no person was hurt and the explosive causing no damage, police handled the boys administratively and did not pursue any action.^[6]

On September 22, 1996, Kazmierczak and another friend, Peter Rachowsky, were arrested for trespassing and rummaging through a property of the Pepsi Cola Company. The boys, both aged 16, were again detained at the Elk Grove Village Police station but they were released without charges.^[5]

In March 1998, Kazmierczak had several encounters with Elk Grove Village police. On March 10, his mother reported him missing; Kazmierczak returned home unharmed two days later.^[6] On March 17, he filed a report against his friend Peter Rachowsky over threats of violence.^[6] Kazmierczak had previously testified against Rachowsky for allegedly selling illegal drugs. As a result, Rachowsky was arrested on March 18, 1998.^[5]

Between April 2002 and June 2003, Kazmierczak had three last contacts with local police, in one case as a complainant for the gas station where he was employed and in the other two incidents as a witness of theft occurring at his workplace.^[7] Following these interactions, he remained clean and without having any trouble with police.^[7]

Kazmierczak exhibited troubling mental health issues since childhood that complicated further by the age of 16.^[8] During his time at elementary and high school, teachers suspected that Kazmierczak may have had a learning disability and attention deficit disorder in addition to exposing careless and impulsive behaviors.^[1] Another teacher noted Kazmierczak's negative attitudes and espoused concerns at his early writings because they contained themes of violence which the teacher considered inappropriate.^[1] However, despite Kazmierczak's parents requesting a psychological evaluation from the school, it was denied and no intervention was made regarding Kazmierczak's mental health problems.^[1][6]

Beginning in December 1996 until February 1998, Kazmierczak showed worsening signs of his mental health, including chronic anxiety, depression, and insomnia. In those years, he was also treated for making suicidal gestures or attempting suicide by overdosing on Tylenol, Ambien, and Depakote, which made him go through seven stays via involuntary commitment to three different psychiatric hospitals in the area.^[6][9] He spent a few days on each occasion, being released within the week of hospitalization.^[6][8]

On June 7, 1998, Kazmierczak graduated from Elk Grove Village High School, ending as one of the last of his class in academic performance.^[10][8] Later that month, he was again involuntarily committed for cutting his wrists.^[8] He was discharged shortly afterward and hospitalized again in August 1998 for another incident of slitting his wrists.^[11] Kazmierzak remained under psychiatric care until February 1999, after which his parents transferred him to a group home under supervision and pharmacological treatment, including antidepressants, antipsychotic medications, and mood stabilizers.^[8][12]

While living in the group home, Kazmierczak was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, traits of schizoid personality disorder, and psychosocial stressors.^[13][14] He was also found to have suicidal ideation and severe obsessive rituals, as well as dependence on smoking marijuana.^[13] While at this group home, Kazmierczak began to refuse to take his medications and became unruly. In January 2001, before he could be transferred to another mental health facility, he left the group home and stopped taking his medications after feigning side effects symptoms that he had read of the medications he was prescribed.^[13] His symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, including compulsive handwashing, worsened over time.^[15]

Between 1999 and September 2001, Kazmierczak held a handful of short-term jobs, including at a Things Remembered store, Walgreens, Jewel-Osco, McDonald's, Walmart, and the United Parcel Service.^[13] In all these jobs, Kazmierczak was terminated for either showing behavioral or attendance problems as well as not enduring workplace stress.^[13]

Kazmierczak joined U.S. Army on September 20, 2001, and was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma with the 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade for basic training, which he passed.^[6] In December 2001, he was reassigned and dispatched to Fort Bliss, Texas.^[6][16] However, someone in the Army found out that Kazmierczak had concealed his past mental health problems, which would have disqualified him from joining the military.^[6] He was subsequently evaluated by psychiatrists at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center, from where he was subsequently given an uncharacterized discharge.^[10][6] Kazmierczak returned to Illinois on February 14, 2002.^[16]

In August 2002, Kazmierczak enrolled at Northern Illinois University (NIU), graduating as a bachelor of arts with a Dean's award and later majoring in sociology (with an emphasis on criminology) and political sciences in 2007.^[17] He was described by faculty and tutors as a standout student and never had problems with campus police or any disciplinary incident. Kazmierczak and one of his mentoring professors authored an article about self-harm in U.S. prisons which was published in the academic journal Criminology & Public Policy.^[18]

Despite being regarded as a model student by faculty, Kazmierczak was described as "strange" or "weird" by his residence hall roommate and other students, who reported that Kazmierczak used to keep to himself and obsessively focus on his studies.^[19] During his time at NIU, Kazmierczak had few friends and was known for his fascination with horror movies and violent video games.^[20]

After his graduation in 2006, Kazmierczak continued taking courses at NIU, including classes in Arabic and politics of the Middle East.^[21] He subsequently abandoned these courses and enrolled in social work at the University of Illinois, where he intended to specialize in the field of mental health.^[19] Towards the end of 2007, Kazmierczak held a job at the Rockville Correctional Facility near Rockville, Indiana, abandoning the position without a clear explanation.^[22] In early 2008, shortly before the shooting at NIU, Kazmierczak was again enrolled at the University of Illinois.^[21]

In November 2007, Kazmierczak visited his father, then living in Lakeland, Florida, on a trip that Kazmierczak made with his girlfriend Jessica Baty and his friend Joe Russo.^[23] During conversations with his father, Kazmierczak was provided with his whole psychiatric history and was told that his mother had never forgiven him for disrupting the family.^[5] The conflicts between Kazmierczak and his parents were never resolved and he did not visit his father again after that trip. Kazmierzak's mother, Gail, died in Lakeland in September 2006 from ALS.^[10][17]

The night before the shooting, Kazmierczak called his girlfriend Jessica Baty to say goodbye and ask her not to forget about him. Baty told CNN that she had no idea that he could have been planning something.^[24] On Valentine's Day or the day that followed, Baty received two packages sent by Kazmierczak to her home in Wonder Lake, Illinois.^[25] The delivery included a copy of the book The Antichrist, a gun holster, ammunition, and a goodbye note thanking her for supporting him and wishing her a good future as a psychologist or social worker.^[24]

On February 14, 2008, Kazmierczak stormed Cole Hall at NIU at 3:05 p.m. and began shooting students attending an introductory class to oceanography. In a span of six minutes, Kazmierczak killed five students and injured several others before committing suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.^[26] He was armed with three handguns and a shotgun, as well as carrying a knife and several loaded magazines. Police said that he was wearing a t-shirt with the word Terrorist on it.^[27][28]

By 4:00 p.m. police declared the area safe and counselors were dispatched to the scene.^[29]

NIU launched its own investigation into the shooting along with local police and the FBI.^[28][30][31] The FBI established that Kazmierczak had been particulary obsessed with Seung-Hui Cho, who perpetrated the Virginia Tech shooting, and with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two shooters of the Columbine High School massacre.^[10]

On February 17, 2008, CNN interviewed Kazmierczak's girlfriend Jessica Baty at her home in Wonder Lake.^[29] Baty expressed shock at her boyfriend's actions and said that the "person who went into Cole Hall and did that" was not the person she knew, adding that Kazmierczak was "anything but a monster" and probably "the nicest, (most) caring person ever."^[24][29] Baty also stated that Kazmierczak had stopped taking his psychiatric medications three weeks before the shooting because "(it) made him feel like a zombie."^[24] The medications prescribed by a psychiatrist included Xanax, Prozac, and Ambien.^[25]

NIU Police Chief Donald Grady said that Baty's statements to CNN were contradictory, alleging that Baty had told them that Kazmierczak had been acting erratically days before the shooting.^[29] In response to Grady, Baty said she was "upset" over the police chief's remarks, and added that she never said that Kazmierczak was erratic, pointing instead to having stated that he was "just a little more irritable."^[29][24]

According to mental health professionals who treated Kazmierczak, he used to be noncompliant with the treatment and further described him as anxious, defiant, and verbally aggressive sometimes.^[32] Psychiatric records from the last group home where he resided noted that he suffered from insomnia and hypersomnia as well as having tendencies for self-mutilation.^[33]

The NIU Final Report also indicated that in the months leading up to the shooting, Kazmierczak experienced emotional distress dealing with unresolved issues with his parents and issues like resentment and denial towards his mental health problems.^[34][11] One of his psychiatrists wrote of Kazmierczak's unwillingness to open up and accept treatment because he did not generally like to see himself as mentally troubled.^[33] As a result, he often concealed his conditions and lied about his past mental health troubles, with Laura Gbadamashi, one of Kazmierczak's group home coordinators saying that he "never wanted to identify with being mentally ill", and that it was seen as his main problem by them.^[11] A nurse who knew Kazmierczak from a brief stay at a psychiatric hospital during his adolescence recalled Kazmierczak as resistant to taking medications and prone to self-harm.^[11]

Reactions came from all over the country, including President George W. Bush, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and U.S. Senator Barack Obama, among others.^[35] Singer Jon Bon Jovi expressed his condolences to the NIU community and canceled rehearsals at the NIU Convocation Center which were due to begin the day of the shooting. He and his band Bon Jovi were due to kick off the North American leg of their Lost Highway Tour.^[36]

Classes were canceled at NIU, and a candlelight vigil took place on February 15, with figures like Jesse Jackson and Robert W. Pritchard speaking.^[37]

Following the shooting, Robert Kazmierczak, who was living in a retirement community near Auburndale, Florida, asked reporters to leave him alone, citing his problems with diabetes and saying that it was a "very hard time" for him.^[38] His sister Susan put a written statement on the door of her home in Urbana, Illinois, expressing shock and sadness at her brother's actions and conveying sympathies for the victims.^[11]

The manager of the apartment complex where Kazmierczak had lived since June 2007 in Champaign, Illinois, put a written statement on Kazmierczak's apartment's door, saying that since he moved into the apartment, Kazmierczak had paid his rent and never came to the administration's attention for any reason.^[11]

Jim Thomas, an NIU emeritus professor who had befriended Kazmierczak and Baty, said that they looked like a typical young couple and did not recall any abuse or conflict in their relationship. Baty also denied that they had had a rocky time together, while the Final Report from NIU suggested that Baty tolerated Kazmierczak's behaviors and allowed his eccentricities.^[39]

• Report of the February 14, 2008 Shootings at Northern Illinois University by the Board of Trustees, Administration, and a Student Member of the Northern Illinois University
• Vann, David (2011). Last Day on Earth: A Portrait of the NIU School Shooter. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-082-034-210-8.
• Vecchi, Gregory M.; Markey, Mary Ann; Daniels, Jeffrey A. (2022). Fatal Grievances: Forecasting and Preventing Active Killer Threats in School, Campus, and Workplace Settings. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-042-964-728-4.